Palestine-Israel, Celebrating the fifth anniversary of the joint struggle in Bil'in and more...

The Israeli state and its forces knew that the joint struggle of the anarchists against the wall and the Bil'in popular comity against the separation fence means trouble. They tried hard to extinguish the flame of the struggle when it just started. They vacillated along the years between the various repression measures - limited by the Israeli public opinions, but failed. They used the Bil'in village as a testing field for "non lethal" means for dispersion of crowds... They resigned in dismay to see the joint non armed struggle expand to other villages and to other aspects of occupation. Even this weekend, in parallel to the special mobilization for the 5th anniversary demonstration in Bil'in, we had the joint demos in Maasara, Ni'ilin' Nabi Saleh, and Sheikh Jarrah. [Italiano]

BIL'IN

Five years of a joint struggle lead by the Bil'in village popular comity against the fence with the Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall initiative, and international activists. Five years of direct actions and popular demonstrations on each Friday - suppressed by force, nearly two and a half years since the High Court of Justice ordered to change the route of the wall, dozens of nightly army invades into the village, hundreds of arrests, dozens of trials, leaders in jail or prohibited of taking part in the demonstration – and the struggle continues!

Today (Friday 19-2-10) Bil'in commemorated the fifth anniversary of popular demonstrations against the settlements and the Apartheid Wall. Israel's occupation has confiscated over 50% of Bil'in's land. Only last week the construction work to reroute the Wall began, nearly two and a half years after the High Court of Justice ordered the Wall to be moved. Approximately 30% of land will be returned to the village.

Throughout the past five years, Bil'in's non-violent demonstrations have met with severe army violence, injuring over 1,200 people and killing one person. Another 85 villagers have been arrested for organizing or merely taking part in the demonstrations (22 are still in jail). The Israeli Occupation Army terrorizes the entire village, entering Bil'in at nights, often using sound bombs and tear gas.

This Friday:

Today's mass demonstration counted more than 1000 activists (hundreds from all across the West Bank, about 300 Israelis - mostly mobilized by the AAtW initiative, and many internationals) who supported Bil'in's resistance and encouraged the villagers to continue its struggle.

A complex logistic operation of the A.A.t.Wall travel agency brought over 300 people from Israel to Bil'in's 5th anniversary demonstration. Despite several attempts, the army managed to prevent only a small number of cars from entering the village. The demonstrators joined radical clowns, a Palestinian prime minister, the Ka/Ya-Samba percussionists, representatives of various Palestinian parties, The Palestinian Struggle Youth Union marching band, one mayor from Geneva, dozens of journalists and supporters from all over Palestine and other parts of the world to express solidarity with the local wo/men of Bil'in in their struggle against the evils of the Israeli Occupation. After a string of speeches in various languages and a jam session of the Palestinian marching band and the percussionists residing between the wall and the Mediterranean, over 1,000 people marched to the wall.

As often done by the Israeli state force who use Bil'in as a testing field, they took the opportunity to do that this Friday too:

Upon arrival at the Wall, the Israeli Occupation Forces seemed to be absent, and the gate in the electronic fence was open - which was an open invitation for the demonstrators to cross the gate towards the Palestinian lands and to get access to the military outpost.

The soldiers hide behind their usual post, and so the crowd of the demonstrators broke forward, crossed the gate, bent the fence and started tearing it down, crossed it, and marched over to the soldiers' front outpost adjacent to the gate, and few placed a Palestinian flag on top of it.

After a few minutes of ecstasy, while dignitaries were still making their way forward, the army's foul water cannon made a surprise guest appearance - this time in much higher concentration than in the previous "trials". This managed to push the demonstrators back behind the fence.

In a typical expression of oppression, after the demonstrators backed away from the smelly water, the army used a cannon to fire dozens of gas canisters - not into the few demonstrators at the front, but rather into the hundreds retreating or standing peacefully behind. The wind coming down the path combined with the panic of inexperienced demonstrators led to many injuries from gas inhalation, impact and falling. After the initial dispersal some demonstrators remained to absorb exceptionally large amounts of gas for the struggle.

Dozens of people suffered from tear gas inhalation and at least ten people were directly injured by the canisters.

As has become customary lately, when the last demonstrators were on their way to the village, a few soldiers invaded the village, but due to the massive presence of supporters, they settled for one more round of gas, returning to bask in their own stench.

"Israeli Occupation Forces aggressively dispersed a peaceful demonstration of Palestinians protesting the construction of the Israeli apartheid wall through their land in the Occupied West Bank town of Al Ma'sara on Friday afternoon.
Approximately 100 Palestinians and 20 internationals and Israelis gathered to protest against the construction of the illegal barrier. The demonstration took place with the participation of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine for their 41st anniversary. The Barrier is built on the land of the villagers of Al Ma'sara and will block the residents from their farmland. They have already lost more than 350 hectares of land to a nearby Israeli Settlement.

Like every Friday, men and women of all ages gathered after the Friday prayer and marched through the main road of the village and this week they decide to march on the road where settlers used. where the organizers of The Popular Committee Against the Wall in Al Ma'sara gave speeches. The demonstrators then walked toward their land at which time Israeli soldiers in a jeep approached, exited and began firing tear gas and throwing concussion grenades into the group. The group quickly dispersed and the soldiers chased them into the village and continued firing tear gas at the demonstrators.

One of the participators 18 years injured and 10's of people suffered from tear gas even the people who are in their homes.

Fewer attended the other demonstrations than normal. Around 100 villagers and solidarity activists marched through Nabi Saleh toward the Hallamish settlement, which has stolen their land and water. Israeli security responded brutally, opening fire with rubber bullets and tear gas. Ten people were reported injured, including an International activist from Sweden who was shot in the face with a rubber bullet. The activist was discharged with stitches but no permanent damage. Several witnesses corroborated the use of live ammunition toward the end of the protest, a claim subsequently denied by IDF spokesman. After tensions had subsided, the army established a roadblock on all traffic heading east out of the village, which locals claim was not moved until the following evening.

Popular committee spokesman Akram Khawaja reported 100 protestors including international and Israeli supporters took part. They marched toward the wall with the Palestinian flag, shouting and singing their message; “The Wall Must Fall”. Israeli soldiers responded rubber bullets and tear gas, dispersing the march. Three young men, all under 18, were shot with rubber bullets and treated on site by Red Crescent ambulances. There were no arrests. Khawaja revealed his pride that “the guys reached the barrier and for the first time they cut out a part of the fence.” This followed an Israeli army announcement that popular demonstrations are costing them large sums of money by forcing them to repair and re-route the apartheid wall.

About 150 people came to the demonstration in Sheik Jarrah yesterday evening. “Tzedek” (Justice) a giant puppet-demonstrator controlled by three people made his first debut, and the “snake of occupation”, slithered through the crowd. A marching band rallied the crowd with the support of the neighborhood kids on a mega phone leading chants. Police and Special Forces were present to prevent activists from entering the community to show their support for evicted Palestinian families. Settlers could be seen mingling with the police as the demonstration went on. The settlers were allowed to cross the police barricade at will. Prison service police were also present.

A giant snake representing the occupation was constructed out of cardboard boxes. Each segment of the snake symbolized a different part of the occupation including settlements, racism, land grab, siege, political prisoners, obstruction of water, etc. As the snake crossed the road between the demonstration and the police-barricaded Shiek Jarrah community, the activist who was holding the snake’s head was arrested.

One of the activists holding a segment of the snake commented, “We wanted to show that the injustice happening here in Israel and Palestine is a bigger than just Sheik Jarrah. “

Sharihan Hannoun, was present at the demonstration. She is one of the residents who was forcibly removed from her home which is now inhabited by Jewish settlers.

“Our problem is not with the Jews, they are the ones that say the problem is religious. Our problem is the fascist state,” said Sharihan who stood next her mother and other people from the neighborhood. “We need many people to come and support us each week.” Sharihan and her family now live in a tent on the street outside her family’s home.

Many of the activist who celebrated the fifth anniversary of the struggle in Bil'in joined the ongoing demonstration.

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The failed arrest of 12 year old child in Nabi Saleh caused a million views storm in the media. This situation and the next Friday of the joint struggle demonstrated again how the involvement of the AATW Israeli Jews prevented in the past and prevent now the extinguishing of the non armed Palestinian struggle with rivers of blood. It was one shooting of Gil Naamati in 2003 in a joint action of the anarchists AATW that caused a real wide media scandal in Israel (which forced the higher commander of the army to visit him at hospital and apologize) that resulted in the change of shooting order about dispersing non armed demonstrations in the occupied lands when Israelis are involved. In addition to our helping to distribute the news, Our main contribution is the supply of "life insurance" to the Palestinians and even to the stone throwers in the demos.... though it is not perfect and along the years about 20 were killed and many more were injured. [Italiano]

It is hard for many activists when the real meaning of the struggle are not concrete achievable gains, but a global worldwide struggle. This week, the concrete and the global merged when the struggle against the destruction of Susiya village recruited international support and forced Israel to delay or even cancel the demolition of the village. Pressure from the imperial powers on Israel was joined by European warning about approaching sanctions against the Israeli banking system for its involvement in the settlers' projects in the occupied West Bank. It seems the erosion of Israeli immunity from paying for its war crimes is collecting momentum. The Israeli media is full of news about B.D.S. - the joint struggle in which thousands of international activists participate, contributing a lot. The heroic Bil'in, Ni'lin, Nabi Saleh, Qaddum, Ma'sara, and Sheikh Jarrah keep the weekly flame from extinguishing. [Italiano]

The non armed joint actions - mainly few Friday demos, do not cause the Israeli armed forces much load. However, the focusing of the media on these, and more so the international activist participating in them who enhance the international struggle when they return home, really worry the Israeli authorities. Their borders screening which succeed to prevent the entry of activists is not much effective. The Israeli ruling elite is not in panic yet, but lately they worry a lot. The president of Israel warn that the development of the B.D.S. must cause a real concern. The threat of the expulsion from the FIFA cause Israel to make concession to prevent the voting and even agreed to a special monitoring comity. The subject of the B.D.S. is more and more in the media and many of the speaker admit their fear from its intensifying. [Italiano]

The election which was a response to rebellion in the elite - threatening to restrict his daily newspaper - resulted in a partial defeat. He is dependant now on the support of the center-right party and the orthodox parties,and now he is trying desperately to regain control. The mounting pressure on Israel threatens to take a fast escalation. It is already expressed in the threat to expel Israel from FIFA and of intervention of the Hague Court. The French initiative in the UN security council is approaching. The escalation in transfer actions - both within Israel and the West Bank is an effort to recruit at least the support of orthodox parties and the extreme right. In spite of harsher efforts to repress the Palestinian struggle - both in occupied east Jerusalem and the popular non-armed struggle the struggle continues. The very optimistic activists already feel the approaching victory. [Italiano]

The B.D.S. which intensify the pressure not only worry the Israeli elite - it already caused a split in it. The split expressed in the initiation of law against the Netaniahu daily caused him to dismantle his coalition and call for election. The result was even worse for him. He lost the majority of the hard core right. The 61 (versus 59) coalition was achieved only with Kakhlon center-right that already blocked the main rightist moves and some of the extreme neoliberal tendency. A new power balance in the Israeli elite may result with a near future coalition with the pseudo left party Zionist List or even entirely different coalition without Netaniahu or even without the Licud party. With this back ground, transfer of Palestinians intensify - both citizens of Israel and in the occupy west bank... And the repression and struggle continue in Bil'in, Ni'ilin, Nebi Saleh, Qadoom, Ma'asarah, Sheikh Jarrah, South Hebron Hills and sporadicly in other places. [Italiano]

With the conviction that our main contribution is not so much in changes on the ground but in the spirit of the struggle of the participants and the fulcrum we provide to the international lever. The gradual increase in international pressure which the Israeli high court verdict is that is a criminal act for Israeli to promote causing already much of damages in the economy of occupation and concern of the Zionist-colonialist Israeli ruling Elite. We see here again how small number of activists can initiate a turn in the course of history when it is applied in the ripe cross-road. It started in a small joint camp in Masha 2003 for struggle against the separation fence, after the idea raised half a year earlier in the European People Global Action conference in Leiden - in which activists from the East of the Mediterranean region participated too. The camp initiated struggles in various villages that riped at 2005 in the Bil'in struggle... which expanded and expanded...

The frustrated Israeli state force who do not dare to prevent the weekly non armed popular demonstrations - Joined and purely of Palestinians, resort to shooting on demonstrators with frequent use of live fire by snippers. In the annexed regions of Jerusalem they no more pretend it is not an occupied area and apply there the occupation procedures - both in treatment of detaining children and houses demolition. The "hot" areas of the popular non armed struggle gradually expand but still far away from a general uprising. The international popular struggle worry the Israeli elite but the damages to the Israeli economy is still in the margins. It seems the Zionist settler colonialist elite which bribed the tycoons section of the capitalist elite with extreme neo liberal measures cannot do it any more as other sections of the capitalist elite (backers of Cakhlon) rebelled.

The merger between the Zionist leadership and the capitalist elite which started 1948 picked in the Tycoons dominance, at 20010. The "too successful" neo-liberalism was challenged by the social struggle, conflicts within the capitalist elite and threatened by international pressure yielded the diminishing power of the old order when the right lost its absolute power in the parliament depending now on the opponent of the milder Zionist right (Kachlon). It is not sure how fast the retreat in the neo-liberal trend and the defeat of the Tycoons combined with the international pressure will yield also retreat in the advance of the Zionist settler and transfer effort. Mean time the joint struggle continue in Bil'in, Ni'ilin, Nebi Saleh, Kadum, Ma'asarah, Southern Hebron Hills, Sheikh Jarrah, the Bedouins of the south, Dahamsh... with additional locations from time to time. [Italiano]

The minimal pressure of the imperial power on Israel to soften its pressures applied to the would be transfered Palestinians of the 1967 occupied areas have its results (more in the west bank than in the Gaza Ghetto). The about 100.000 Palestinians of the occupied territories are employed by Israelis. Most of the roadblocks were removed. The rebellion of the Palestinians in the west bank is channeled mostly through a small minority of activists in the joint and separate week end activities. People are like holding their breath to see if the culminated crisis in the international arena will yield a significant break throw. Mean time, the persistent week end struggles - though in a diminished intensity in Bil'in, Ma'asara, Ni'ilin, Nabi Saleh, Qaddum, South of Hebron Hills, Sheik Jarrah... with sporadic struggles in other locations. [Italiano]

The approaching victory in the struggle to block the advance of the Zionist settler colonialist project and even to force it to retreat a bit do not make the real good people to like the enrolling of history. The approaching defeat make the Israeli elite take desperate steps and do its atrocities in the open. The efforts to transfer the Bedouins within 1948 borders and villagers in 1967 occupied territories escalate. The diminishing support of Israel by the imperial power due to changes in the dynamics of the region, world public opinions and economic losses it cause gradually change the power balance within the Israeli capitalist elite that may be expressed in the coming elections. On the ground, the joint struggle in Bil'in, Ni'lin, Ma'sara, Nebi Saleh, Sheikh Jarrah, Qaddum, and South Of Hebron Hills, is gradually expanding to other locations even without the "shield" of Israeli activists. [Italiano]

The Kobane resistance that has passed its 45th day as of now has caused the attention of revolutionaries all over the world to turn to Rojava. As a result of the work carried out by Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF), anarchist comrades from many parts of the world have sent messages of solidarity to the Kobane resistance.(1) This internationalist stance without a doubt carries great importance for the people resisting in Kobane. However if we do not analyze what is happening in all its truth and if we romanticize instead, our dreams will turn to disappointment in short order.

The main features of the Syrian revolution are its youthful, spontaneous aspect, and the fact that it was created on the streets and is linked directly to the people. It is a revolution without centralized control, led by insurgent individuals. Consequently, no-one can claim to govern it or lead and the reason is simple: the young insurgents rose up spontaneously and there are no signs of participation by religious elements, whose ideas are extremely reactionary, or indeed by any other tendency. [العربية ]

From 5-15 April 2009, a member of Anarchists Against the Wall, Haggai Matar (well-known also for his anti-militarist work, since he was one of the first of the new wave of political objectors to military service), will be in Italy for a speaking tour with the dual aim of providing updates on the current situation in the struggle against the wall and the occupation, and of collecting funds for the activities of AAtW. If you can, please come to one of the events below. If you are unable to attend but you want to contribute to the work of AAtW, please log on to http://awalls.org/donations for details on how to do so. [Italian]

Anarchists Against the Wall and the Bil'in Popular Committee exemplify the nonviolent resistance to the Israeli-built "Separation Wall" on Palestinian land, as well as steadfastness in the diverse grass-root campaigns against the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Ahmad Husam Yousef Mousa, 10 years old, was murdered yesterday as he demonstrated together with his friends against the separation wall which is being constructed on the lands of his village Ni'ilin. When Ahmad and his friends reached the construction site the soldiers shot rubber bullets at them and they began to
retreat. At that point one of the soldiers shot a live round at Ahmad's head from a distance of about 10 meters.